Into Oblivion
by insertcleverandwittytitlehere
Summary: When an Astronomy lesson goes awry and black holes start to swallow up Hogwarts at random, can Rose Weasley survive the unpredictable or will she succumb to the unknown?


A/N: This is the Chudley Cannons Captain checking in for Round 11.

Prompt: Gain inspiration from the anime series Uzumaki.

Fair warning - I've never read this, so my knowledge of the story and the world are based purely off of a quick synopsis read on Wikipedia. To anyone who knows the story well, I hope I did it justice!

Word count (before A/N): 2,480 words

I am not JK. This is her world. I merely dabble.

00000

The only sound I hear is the echo of my thundering footsteps as I tear down the fifth floor corridor. My heart is racing, but at least I know I had enough distance between me and the growing vortex swallowing the world behind me.

These vortexes, black holes, have been cropping up around Hogwarts for months. They swallow everything in their path. Just now I can hear the screams of portraits being sucked into the abyss.

I keep running, my flats slapping against the stone floor in frantic rhythm, my wand clutched in my hand. I have to push forward. I have to keep moving. One false step, and I'll be reeling forever in infinity.

As I reach the staircase, an image of my brother's face flashes before my eyes, and I almost lose balance at the top of the stairs. But I can't dwell on that now.

I throw my left leg and arm around the banister so that I'm hugging it tight to my chest. I let gravity slide me down to the fourth floor, my eyes watching the black hole stop just at the top, its swirling insides blacker than the deepest depths of the Hogwart's lake.

My feet stop my decent, and I climb off the banister. My uniform is bunched up around my waist, but decorum be damned. I just escaped certain death.

00000

I realize I might be ahead of myself.

My name is Rose Weasley and I am the oldest and only child of Ron and Hermione Weasley. You might recognize their names, though I fear by the time someone finds my journals, the tale of their heroics will be long forgotten.

I had a brother, once. He was sucked into one of the infamous black holes three months ago. But I'll get to that.

What we know about these vortexes is that they started one warm evening in September, right near the start of term. The second years were sitting through a midnight Astronomy lesson, learning about the possible root of all magic. Some wizards say magic is an inherent gift passed down through blood alone. Others believe magic first fell to earth in a series of asteroids. The very first humans were able to harness its powers and adopt it into their DNA.

The students that night were watching for Neptune. One girl, a quiet Muggleborn from what I was told, began to scream. Suddenly, a black hole burst from her chest, swallowing her and her entire class before it stopped. Only Professor Sinistra was able to escape and tell the school what had happened.

The girl... she was not a good witch. She often had bouts of extreme magic. She couldn't control it, no matter how many lessons she had or potions she took. It was like magic consumed her, was using her as a host.

Anyways, ever since that night, the black holes show up unexpectedly, a tiny swirl starting off in the distance and growing to an all-consuming roar. Half the population of Hogwarts has been swallowed, never to be seen again.

My brother included.

The worst part is that no matter what we do, we can't leave the school. We've tried sending letters, Floo-ing, Apparating, flying… everything. No one can leave.

And we haven't heard a single thing from the outside world. Even Hogsmeade has become a mystery to us.

It's like we're trapped in time, the universe chipping away at us little by little each day. My parents, wherever they are, have no idea Hugo is gone.

00000

I walk into the Great Hall, my skirt still askew from my great escape. I steer clear of the Slytherin table, where a medium-sized black hole sits. That one took half the House, including my cousin Albus, early one October morning before stopping in its tracks. Now it just sits there, dormant for now, spinning like a skipping Muggle record.

My feet take me to the very front of the Hall, where Headmistress McGonagall is seated, her blue eyes focused on the ceiling above.

I refuse to look up. I know what's there, but I can't stand to look at it - the largest black hole the school has faced.

I feel another set of eyes on me. Over at the Ravenclaw table, where few students remain, I lock eyes with my boyfriend Scorpius's. I know he sees the fear in my own, because he stands to join me.

We reach McGonagall together.

"Headmistress," I say. I feel Scorp lace his fingers in mine. McGonagall looks down at me quickly. "The fifth floor corridor was just swallowed."

Her lips fade into a thin line.

"I was the only one up there," I say. "We lost some portraits, but that's all. This time."

"Thank you, Ms. Weasley."

That's all I can do for now. So Scorp leads me back to the table wordlessly. There, he pulls a plate toward me and I grab for a roll.

"I should have been with you," he says.

"You didn't know."

"But you could have disappeared."

"But I didn't."

We stare at each other, the words we want to stay trapped behind our lips, secrets we don't have to say. Because we know.

Everyone who has disappeared, every single one... it's like they get erased in all but name. I know my brother existed. I know I felt fear the day I watched him fade away. But for the life of me, I can't feel anything about him now. I can't even remember what it was like growing up together. My memories have altered to reflect a world where he never was there...

I love Scorpius more than I can even explain. He's been a part of my life since birth almost, being born only days apart. Our mothers had gone through difficult deliveries and were confined to the same ward for a week. They became fast friends despite our father's school rivalry, and I practically grew up in the Malfoy household.

When I started school, my dad joked about beating Scorp in class, but he knew we would be helping each other more than competing. And it's true. For years, we worked together, learned to together, loved together.

If he disappeared and I forgot all that…

"Where do they have you tonight?" he asks.

"I'm not entirely sure yet. Especially with the fifth floor gone."

"Stay with me."

My eyes meet his and I feel my stomach plummet. He's really scared this time. I must look pretty spooked myself for Scorp to worry like that.

"Okay," I say. Because the Ravenclaw girls don't really have a dormitory anymore, and Scorp's been squirreling away in an abandoned classroom ever since half the faculty disappeared and regular lessons have slowed until further notice.

"Okay."

00000

"Three bedrooms and a bathtub so big we could both fit comfortably. And we will fill it with champagne and hang floating candles from the ceiling like the Great Hall used to."

I smile as Scorp continues to explain his fantasies to me. Sometimes it's easier to pretend there is a possibility at a future together than facing the brutal reality that at any moment we could be wiped clean out of the other person's memories.

But in moments like this one, curled up underneath the makeshift tent of blankets and curtains, surrounded by candles and sneaked chocolates and Scorp's arms inside his mock-bedroom, I can forget about that awful reality. For a little bit, anyways.

"And the best part is we're going to live at the top of the world, Rosie. So high, the birds will greet us in the morning and the stars will tuck us in at night."

"Sounds perfect," I bury my face into the crook of his neck.

"If only," he sighs. "What's going to happen to us, Rose? What if no one knows what's happening? What if they never come? What if the black holes never stop?"

"I don't know," I answer honestly. Because whatever I think or feel, it won't mean a thing.

"I can't lose you," Scorp whispers. I take his face in mine and I kiss him hard. I can't lose him either, and I take this moment, this perfect, perfect moment, and I sear it into my memory. I will not forget the way this feels, being here beside the one person I love more than life itself.

"You never will," I tell him. And I mean it.

The next morning, I go about my day doing what I've been doing since Hugo disappeared: I search out the next hole.

My calculations have been, well as you might have noticed, accurate but abysmally late. Outrunning a growing vortex has become something of a specialty of mine these days.

I'm the one who predicted the giant hole hovering above the tables in the Great Hall. Unfortunately, I only realized its immanent appearance five seconds before it showed up. It was enough notice to get students to duck under the tables but not nearly enough to evacuate. I really thought that was the end of us, but the vortex stopped seven feet from the floor. McGonagall never takes her eyes off it now; I have never looked up since.

Yesterday, my maps had me on the fifth floor. But today, according to the extensive research I've done on both the architecture and layout of the school and on black holes and possible patterns, I'm down in the dungeons with Scorpius.

We usually walk around until we either discover a new black hole in the vicinity or we find nothing and we decide to retreat to McGonagall's office or our alcove in that abandoned classroom.

Don't get me wrong, other classes are still going on, but as two seventh years, we're most useful protecting the school from this growing threat of oblivion. Not that we've done much, but I'm proud of our growing accuracy.

"You notice they're coming more frequently?" Scorp asks.

"Yeah, but they're stopping a lot faster than before. Remember the first few, how they just kept spinning and spinning. Now it's like they pop up, suck up a few meters and then stop like they hit a wall."

"That makes me more nervous," Scorp says, his eyes checking the ceiling above. "How do we predict a fast-and-short vortex versus a long-and-slow? And if we can pinpoint the difference, what's to say it won't change again?"

My heart skips a beat. Scorp's been great so far at keeping a level head, but lately he's been stuck on these growing what ifs and maybes. It makes my skin crawl, thinking about all these horrific possibilities. As if the one we're in isn't enough.

"Scorp, I know we don't really say it much, but I'm just as scared. And thinking about this whole thing just getting worse doesn't help me."

We walk a few paces in silence, the air around us growing still. Finally, he turns to me.

"I'm sorry, Rosie, I- I'm not trying to frighten you. Honest. I just can't get these thoughts out of my head."

"I know the feeling."

He links his fingers through mine.

"We've been looking all morning. Wanna grab lunch?"

"Sure," I smile.

It's like this for awhile. No new black holes pop up for weeks, and then when it finally rolls in, it's small. The size of a quaffle floating in midair, barely pulling anything in and barely inching along.

But it's a false sense of security. And it only means danger.

00000

"Run!" I shout to the students ahead of me. We're sprinting toward the Forbidden Forest, but we all know once we reach Hogwarts' wards, we'll be trapped.

Doesn't matter though, because a ginormous vortex has opened up by the lake like a greasy black mouth rising from the depths of the dark water. Even the sky has turned bleak, trading in that early summer sun for greying clouds.

There were twelve of us by the lake when it happened, when the water opened up to reveal a black hole nearly as wide as the castle is tall. It sounded like the very fabric of our world was being ripped straight through. I thought my ears were going to bleed.

Hell, they might be. But I can't stop to check, because I have to run. I have to move away from the rushing spiral behind me.

Out the corner of my eye, I can see Scorp sprinting along beside me. His mouth is set in a thin line, his eyes darting around for a better path. We're about to be hidden under the canopy of trees, though I doubt that will save us any time.

The rest of the students - now down to five plus Scorp and I - are ahead. They didn't move at first and I had to push them into gear. Now they can't slow down. Every limb flailing akimbo. Every step forward another step away from the danger.

I hear an ancient groan as a tall tree is sucked right out of the ground, plucked like a dandelion. All around me, the poor forest is being dismantled. I have to move.

 _Snap_! Scorp lets out a grunt. I keep my eyes ahead of me, my focus on thinking of an alternative path out of here.

"ROSE!"

lt's an interesting sensation, when your world ends... my toes and teeth go cold with fear. My feet stop but my heart keeps going. I can already feel the memories slipping.

When I turn to face the swirling monster, my eyes lock with Scorp's as the blackness starts to wrap around him.

He'd fallen over a branch, I quickly learn. He'd fallen right into the black hole's path.

I can still see him, but he's fading quick. His hair is gone, his legs gone, his left arm. He reaches to me with his right and my heart says reach back, but my head asks why.

Why reach out to him… _who is he to me anyway._

Scorp shouts my name again, and I watch his features slowly fading into the vortex.

"I love you, Rosie," he cries. Then it's just his outstretched arm, waiting.

The hole swallows down his shoulder.

 _I can remember our classroom alcove, our sanctuary in this living nightmare._

It swallows down to his elbow.

 _And I remember how scared he was to lose me. How he kept thinking of all the ways to fight the inevitable_.

It swallows to his wrist.

In my last moment, I grab his outstretched hand and step inside the vortex.

Because I still remember him, the way his green eyes glow when he's happy, and the way his smirk makes my heart feel warm. I remember his hopes of living in the sky surrounded by birds and stars and champagne bubbles, and I remember the promise I made to myself: I will never forget Scorp. Not until the day I die.

The swirling, swirling, swirling swallows me whole. I'm lost in oblivion.


End file.
